Hello! Last Friday one of my ADGA ND does kidded for the first time to a little bucking. We live in central Minnesota, and I bred my goats for winter kiddings (February) because if I bred my does I needed to have the kids weaned before May. Thankfully the weather warmed up to 15 degrees before she kidded (before it was in the -20's). At first the mom wanted nothing to do with the kid and only focused on cleaning up herself. So, I got the kid dried off with towels and a hair dryer. I put him back with his mom, and she immediately started licking him. He was born @ 10 pm, and by midnight he still hadn't nursed. I had tried to feed him a bottle, but he couldn't quite get it figured out. at 1:00 I went back out after cutting the bottle hole a bit bigger, and he drank 4 oz of colostrum. I finally was able to go to sleep, then in the morning he drank another 5 oz of milk. After that I worked on helping him nurse some more, and he finally got it figured out.
I ordered a hanging lamb scale, but it wont come until this Friday, and so I have been making do with our older scale we have that is not digital. He was wiggling quite a bit, but when he was born he was about 3.75 lbs, and Monday he was 5.75 lbs, and has been 5.75 lbs since (yesterday and today). I'm waiting for my new scale so that I can get more accurate weights, but I am worried that he isn't gaing weight like he should. Deborah says that ND goats should be gaining 4 oz a day, which is .25 lbs. I have never had kids in the winter before, could the cold weather be a part of it? is he using more energy to keep warm, or is he not getting enough milk? Since he was born, the temp hasn't gone below -7; most days have been about 15 degrees. I keep trying to give him a bottle, but after learning to nurse he wants nothing to do with the bottle. Any help would be appreciated!
Replies
Hi Tayla
It seems that the most likely scenario is an issue with your scale. A 2# weight gain in 3 days is more than even a standard sized kid would gain.
If he truly weighs 5.75# at 5 days he is ahead on weight gain.
I would check mom's udder to be sure she is producing plenty of milk and that it is flowing easily from both sides.
Is he active and are you seeing him nurse? At 5 days old he should be perky and hopping around for spurts and also taking frequent short naps along with frequent short nursing periods.
Also- temps should not impact his weight gain. Deborah kidded in very cold weather for years :)
Hopefully your scale will arrive on time. I know that will make you feel better.
Will you please post an update here when you get it in and get him weighed?
Tammy
Yes, I may just be worried for no reason! It is probably my scale, but I have used the scale on previous goats, and it seemed to give me a good idea where they were at. But I just figure that I might as well ask, because I would rather be safe than sorry! What made me worried is that he gained weight those first few days, but I also had fed him quite a bit from the bottle at first. Then after he started nursing his weight seemed to level out...I actually have a security camera focused on their stall, so I can check on him throughout the day, and he is definitly nursing. She has enough milk, because when I check her udder in the evening and milk out the extras so that he udder doesn't get overfull I get about 5 oz of milk.
As far as his activity, he takes naps, and then will get up to nurse a little, walk around, pretend to eat hay with his mom, and then take another nap. I disbudded him yesterday. But I won't be too concerned right now then :) , and will just wait for my new scale to come so that I can get better weight measurements. Thanks :)
Your welcome :)
Please keep us updated!
Tammy
I got my scale in the mail yesterday, and his weight was 6.11 lbs at 9:00 pm. Then this afternoon at 3:00 I weighed him, and he is 6.56 lbs. So that is almost an 8 oz weight gain in less than 24 hours ;) I guess I have nothing to worry about, and it was just my scale before that was causing problems! Now I have a good scale for weighing him and my new little goats that should be coming any day now! Thanks again for the help
What a WONDERFUL update!
I know you are sleeping much better :)
Best of luck with your upcoming kiddings,
Tammy